A PIONEERING scheme to tackle Scotland’s shocking record of deaths from drug abuse and addiction will launch in Glasgow on Monday with the opening of a “safer drugs consumption room” at the city’s Thistle Centre.

The initiative, which will cost the Scottish government £2 million a year, has been hailed by Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney as a “significant step forward” in efforts to tackle the country’s drug problem.

The centre will allow addicts to take drugs under supervision in a clean and hygienic environment, with medical help available if there are problems. It will provide access to help for addicts.

Scotland has the worst rate of drug deaths in Europe. In 2023, 1,172 people died from drug misuse, an increase of 12 per cent on the previous year.

Mr Swinney said: “Every death related to drug misuse is one too many, and drug deaths in Scotland remain far too high.”

Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “Worldwide evidence demonstrates that drug consumption facilities can help save and improve lives.”

Scotland’s “drugs crisis” took shape in the 1980s when Thatcherite economic neoliberalism brought de-industrialisation and a dramatic rise in unemployment and subsequent poverty.

A further rapid increase came in 2015 when poverty increased further through austerity.

In 2022 Peter Kelly, director of the Glasgow-based Poverty Alliance, said: “Drug use is closely linked to poverty.

“People living in the most deprived communities in Scotland are around 18 times more likely to experience problem drug use, compared to people in the least deprived communities.

“We can’t tackle drug deaths without tackling poverty.”